081 Chew-Whacker

What’s the inspiration behind your derby name?
Well, as you can probably tell, I’m a bit of a Star Wars fan and after a few brainstorming sessions, my husband suggested “Chew-Whacker” and the name just stuck!

What’s the inspiration behind your number?
Again, another Star Wars reference! As we can’t have letters in our numbers a fellow Fresh Meater suggested replacing the “B” with an “8”…

What was your proudest roller derby moment?
Definitely getting my 27 laps in 5 minutes. Wow! What a feeling when I realised on the 26th lap that I was going to make it and my fellow Fresh Meat graduates were shouting and cheering so loud! It was totally unexpected and I was so relieved to break that barrier.

How did you first discover roller derby / what convinced you to join?
It’s all Kemi’s fault! She does marketing work for my social enterprise and we met to talk about design ideas for a new project we were launching and I mentioned that I was interested in going along to the 2015 Fresh Meat taster session. She said she played for them and that I should give it a go, so I did!!

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get involved with their local team?Just do it! You won’t regret it! I was involved in a serious car accident back in 2007 and ever since then, I’ve always had a bit of a “life’s too short” attitude. It’s always better to give something a go and make an informed decision that you don’t like or want to do something rather than not doing it and always wondering “what if?”

What other sports / training do you do when you’re not on eight wheels?
I started running which I NEVER thought I would get into. I ran the Great North Run for the first time ever for Tiny Lives in September 2016. The roller derby definitely helped me get going with the running and vice versa!